An example of supervised classification in paleolithic archaeology

Title

An example of supervised classification in paleolithic archaeology

Creator(s)

Bietti, Amilcare 1937-2006

Burani, Ambra

Zampetti, Daniela

Date

1992

Is Part Of

Archeologia e Calcolatori

Volume

3

Pages

7-17

Language

eng

Rights

CC BY-NC-ND 4.0

URI

http://www.archcalc.cnr.it/journal/id.php?id=36

Zotero BiDiAr

https://www.zotero.org/groups/5293298/bidiar/items/CMUQJDM4/item-list

Abstract

As an example of pattern recognition problems in prehistory, the authors present two different kinds of classification (unsupervised and supervised) applied to a sample of common Upper Paleolithic tools: the end-scrapers of Grotta Polesini, coming from layer 1 and layer C12. The results, obtained through the use of statistical techniques, led to a general conclusion: in building a typology more attention should be given to functional considerations and to a deep understanding of behavioural patterns on a more local scale. The traditional prehistoric typological lists are therefore criticised, as they are often too general and too much oriented towards large scale comparisons in space and time.